In Christ

Discipleship Manual Part II

By Joseph Machuta

Union With
Christ:

All the people of the world can be divided in two
categories.They are either in Christ
or they are not.All in Christ
have eternal life and the forgiveness of sin.All those not united with Christ have eternal separation form God and
are dead in their trespasses and sin.

Born
Again:

How does
one become united with Christ?Well, the
answer is to be born again.Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say
to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3 NKJV)Being in Christ is synonymous with being in
the kingdom of God.One cannot be in Christ
and not in the kingdom of God and no one can be in the kingdom of God with out
being united with Christ.

Let’s examine the concept of the new birth.The most well known verse in the Bible is
John 3:16; For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son
that whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.Now follow with me, if one is born again to
everlasting life, i.e., eternal life, then, it would be impossible for one to
loose this birthright.The birthright of
being born again into Jesus is eternal life.This is an awesome promise indeed.It is likewise a sovereign decree of God and therefore can be rested on
with utmost surety.The operation
necessary to obtain eternal life is to believe in Jesus.What does it mean to believe in Jesus?Well, in the first part of this manual we saw
the absolute necessity for recognizing a need for him and the redemption
purchased with his blood.Secondly,
after recognizing the need for Jesus, one must trust completely in the absolute
effectiveness of Christ’s sacrifice.Christ’s acceptance by the Father, as satisfaction for the penalty of
sin, must be relied on completely.Thus,
it is not mere mental assent to the fact, but rather total reliance upon it,
that unites one with Jesus.This
excludes the possibility of gaining acceptance before the Father with self effort.To believe that one must do something in
addition to Christ’s effort, shows that there is no reliance on the finished
work of Jesus.Therefore, salvation by
works is repugnant and offensive to God.Self-righteousness is a stench in his nostrils.So then, one is united with Christ by faith.

Proof of Union:

Much of the New Testament teaches that the believer is united with
Christ and thus with the Father.First
let’s look at the prayer Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane.20 ¶ "I do not
pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their
word; 21"that they all may be one,
as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that
the world may believe that You sent Me. 22"And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may
be one just as We are one: 23"I
in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the
world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
(John 17:20-23 NKJV)All who believe in
Jesus and are his chosen are united with him and have him and the Father in
them.Being in Christ then, is union
with Jesus and the Father.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old
things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV)Union with Christ brings about a new creation.Ephesians 2:10 states, for we
are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.This new creation is positional and
imputed.It is the decree that our trust
must rest upon.Paul said it this way in
2 Corinthians; 19that is, that God
was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses
to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be
reconciled to God. 21For He made Him
who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God
in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:19-21 NKJV)When a person is united with Christ in the new birth, they become the
righteousness of God in position.Notice
that I said in position because the person is still clothed in flesh.

Benefits In Christ:

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ
Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1 NKJV)One
great benefit of being in Christ is no condemnation.The sinner stands forgiven before a righteous
Father.Jesus the mediator of the new
and better covenant intercedes with the Father on behalf of the saint united in
Christ.The believer receives the
forgiveness of sin twenty-four hours per day seven days per week.

Not only is there forgiveness but
also, the believer joined to Christ, is actually reconciled to God.God has reinstated the pre-fall position
spiritually.Union with Christ makes it possible to
walk and talk with God at all times.And
so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The
last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45 NKJV)Christ is the last Adam and thus, union with
him makes the united believer the last Adam in him.What was the condition of the first Adam
before the fall?The answer is that he
was in continual communion with God.In
Christ, it is again possible to be in continual communion with God by the
indwelling Holy Spirit.This is another
birthright accompanying the new birth.There is a loathsome teaching centered on continual communion
with God that all of the EvangelicalInstitutionalChurch has embraced.It is part of the double-minded gospel that
is proclaimed and has a death grip on believers casting them into vile
bondage.It is commonly called
maintaining fellowship with God.The
proof text for this hideous doctrine is (1 John 1:9 NKJV);If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.Of all the books in the Bible, the book that
carries the most incorrect exegetical and hermeneutical baggage is John's first
epistle. It is difficult to overcome all the traditional exposition. The reason
for the error is that it is not examined in the light, of the conditions faced
by its intended readership.It is widely
acknowledged in church tradition that this letter was written to the Ephesian
believers.

While any good commentary
acknowledges the presence of Gnosticism creeping into the early fellowship, the
sinister effect of this system of belief, along with the multiple nuances and
variations of this specialized gnosis (knowledge), has not been fully
appreciated by expositors down through church history. The reason for this is
that the early church, especially after gaining the power of the sword,
eradicated Gnosticism as a deadly heresy.

It served the clerical purposes of
the Roman and Orthodox churches to interpret 1 John without using this
understanding. Therefore, 1 John has not taken its rightful place in
establishing sound doctrine. Yet, it remains to be one of the most important
doctrinal clarifiers in "New Covenant Theology."

Let's start with a definition of
Gnosticism. Webster defines Gnosticism as this: "a trend of religious
thought with far eastern origins which flourished in the Hellinistic Near East.
There were numerous gnostic sects both pagan and Christian. The Christian
gnostics denied the literal meaning of the Scriptures and saw only esoteric
meaning based on gnosis, i.e. they did not believe that a real Jesus was really
crucified."

Gnosticism claimed that only
certain initiates had the higher special knowledge. Most often, they denied the
essentials of the gospel which Paul set forth in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 et. al.
This simple gospel message was also given by the Apostles in the several
sermons recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.

1 John was written To counter act
the idea of special knowledge or a special anointing.We will examine the text within the context
of the first chapter of First John.

1That
which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the
Word of life-

2the
life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you
that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-

3that
which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have
fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and His Son
Jesus Christ.

4And
these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

These are the words of a loving
parent. John wants to make certain that these individuals are sure that he had
personally experienced what he has told them about and what Paul had told them
prior to his arrival. He says I am not telling you hearsay; I saw, touched, and
experienced The Word. This Word was Jesus and He had fellowship with the Father
and we had fellowship with Him and the Father. I'm telling you all this so that
your joy may be full; complete. This assurance comes to combat the teaching of
individuals who were claiming special knowledge. They were telling these
believers that Jesus death, burial, and resurrection was not the important fact
and that they were believing in just the mundane ordinary soul stuff; their
special gnosis was all that mattered.

5This
is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is
light and in Him is no darkness at all.

6If
we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do
not practice the truth,

7But
if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

John 1:9 states
this, "That was the true Light which gives light to every
man coming into the world." This light mentioned here is the
enlightening of the Spirit. Man without God's Spirit is in spiritual darkness.
The fact is that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself not
imputing their sin to them."(2 Cor. 5:19) The reason that He did that was
out of love for mankind. This makes the "foolishness of the cross",
the very thing that gnostics objected to, the central and only cause for the
"good news." Walking in the light of God's gracious provision for
mankind was what assured the believer that they had fellowship with the Father
and the Son. The fellowship then comes from walking in the light of the gospel.

8If
we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is
not in us.

Frequently, when listening to
someones prayer, I'll hear them quote First John 1:9, then they invariably ask
for forgiveness of sins. It is interesting to me that in these three verses
there is no mention of asking for forgiveness. What it does say is, that we
should confess our sins. Theologians of all denominations, tie these verses to
determining whether a believer is in fellowship or out of fellowship. Actually,
3 through 7 and 8 through 10 are addressing two separate false teachings and
thus are not connected. Verses 3 - 7 are meant to counteract the gnostic's
special enlightenment claim, whereas, verses 8 - 10 are meant to counteract the
false teaching of dualism. There were some Christian gnostics that taught that
only the flesh was corrupt. They thought that the Spirit was the only thing
that was eternal and was therefore not corrupt. Thus, man did not have a sin
nature according to this belief.

Here is the error in the accepted
exegetics of 1 John 1:9. We have a theology, that implies that we need to get
right with God in order to be able to fellowship with God, when the reality of
the situation is that we need to fellowship with God, because, by the blood of
Jesus, believers have been given that right.

Hebrews 4:14-16 expresses this, "Seeing then that we a great High
Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold
fast our confession. (15)For we do not have a High Priest who cannot
sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all ways tempted as we are,
yet without sin. (16)Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

What is "hold fast our
confession" if not to confess that we are sinners by nature, and have been
made righteous by the blood of Jesus. Verse 15 lets us know that the line of
the old hymn "Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in
prayer" is correct theology and good advise. Finally, the admonition to
come boldly to the throne of grace
is to come at the very time of weakness and need. Not asking for forgiveness,
but rather confessing our sins and resting in the forgiveness that was finished
by Jesus on the cross. When we keep asking for forgiveness we prove that we
don't believe God when He tells us
"by the one offering He has perfected forever those who are being
sanctified."(Hebrews 10:14) When we ask God for what He has already
given we call Him a liar. But, when we believe Him, and by faith trust in what
Jesus did, we have a peace with him that produces the "Fruit of the Spirit
in ourlives."

It can be clearly seen that
continual communion with God is one of the great benefits of being in
Christ.This is guaranteed by the New
Covenant that was instated by Jesus when he died upon the cross (Matthew 26:28)

Another
great benefit of being united with Christ in the new birth is the forgiveness
of sin.This was promised by Jeremiah in
a decree from God foretelling the time of a new covenant.31"Behold, the days are coming, says the
LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the
house of Judah— 32"not according
to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by
the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke,
though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33"But this is the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their
minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be
My people. 34"No more shall every
man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for
they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says
the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember
no more." (Jeremiah 31:31-34 NKJV)The believer, in union with Jesus, has the
benefit described above in verse thirty-four.One must believe that this is all sins, i.e., past present and future.

In Christ—Faith is Obedience!

Sin and unbelief are synonymous.This is made clear in the letter to the Hebrews.It was Jesus’ perfect faith that made him an
acceptable sacrifice to God for the sin of the world. We find
this written; But without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is
a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
(Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) and then in another place we find this; While he was
still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice
came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. Hear Him!" (Matthew 17:5 NKJV)So, we find that without faith it is
impossible to please him and in another place we find that he is well pleased
with the Son.We must conclude that it
was Jesus perfect faith that was well pleasing to the Father.

Further evidence for the obedience of faith is found in the
statements made by Jesus about his perfect faith to the Father.The incarnation provides the opportunity for
perfect faith.What this means is, that
in the incarnation, Christ was given all of the senses of humanity.The Father told him that he was the Messiah.He was told that he would have to suffer and
die for the sin of the world.The
temptation of Christ then, was to believe this in spite of his humanity.He believed the Father when the Pharisees,
the alleged representatives of God said that he was a lunatic possessed by
demons.In fact, against all odds all
the time he believed the Father and not the circumstances around him.His faith was such that as he hung on the
cross, with the Father turning his back on him for the sin of the world, he
could look at the crowd that had cried away with him, away with him, crucify
him, crucify him and say, Father forgive them they don’t know what they’re
doing.That was the ultimate act of
faith.It was likewise the act that made
him the Worthy Lamb slain before the foundations of the world.Now, if it were Jesus faith that pleased the
Father, why would we not believe that it is our faith in Jesus that pleases the
Father as well?

16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who
came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it
not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18And to whom did He swear that they would not
enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19So we see that they could not enter in
because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:16-19 NKJV)The writer of Hebrews knew that sin,
disobedience and unbelief were synonymous.It must be extrapolated from this that faith equals obedience.Thus, it is faith in the finished work of
Jesus on the cross that is the obedience that pleases God under this new
covenant.But God be thanked that
though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of
doctrine to which you were delivered. (Romans 6:17 NKJV)Obeying from the heart is very different that
obeying in the flesh.Obedience of the
heart is the obedience of faith.

"But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought
for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be
commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded
you." (1 Samuel 13:14 NKJV) We know that this passage is reefing to King
David.Why was David a man after God’s
own heart?Well, we can be sure that it
was not on the basis of his obedience to the law.No, David was called a man after God’s own
heart because of David’s faith.One
cannot read the Psalms without seeing evidence of the faith of David.David believed that God was merciful and
gracious.This was David’s obedience.Let’s look at some of the passages that
establish David as a man of faith in the mercy of God.2Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals
all your diseases, (Psalms 103:2-3 NKJV)David is confident that one of the great benefits of God is that he
forgives all iniquities.He goes on to tell
of God’s decrees concerning his grace. 11For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy
toward those who fear Him; 12As far as
the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
(Psalms 103:11-12 NKJV)

The
Bible, the history of God’s redemption, so clearly points to the fact that
faith is obedience that it is difficult to believe how we have missed the point
by such a wide measure.The EvangelicalInstitutionalChurch is so
caught up in fleshly obedience that their lens cannot comprehend the obedience
of faith. In a real sense, they are blind to the concept.In this they resemble the nation Israel.They have eyes but never see and ears but
they never hear.

It is Finished—A Time For Rest:

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is
finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (John 19:30 NKJV)What did Jesus mean when he proclaimed that it was finished; what was
finished?The answer is redemption.Jesus had finished the work of redemption and
there was nothing left to do."I
have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given
Me to do. (John 17:4 NKJV)The
purpose for the Incarnation was redemption.Jesus came to die for the sin of the world.Peter explains it this way, For Christ
also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to
God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, (1 Peter
3:18 NKJV)

It is amazing to me that no one in Institutional, Evangelical,
Christendom has the slightest idea what “it is finished” means.In other words, there is no basic
understanding of the operation of the gospel in the redeemed life and what “it
is finished” must of necessity mean.There is an order of operation in salvation.This order is necessary to redemption and the
bible clearly teaches this order.The
Evangelical, InstitutionalChurch does not understand this order and because of bibliolatry cannot
and will not grasp it.They therefore,
stay blind to the truth of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.It is because they do not discriminate
between the sovereign decrees of the grace of God and Christian walk
admonitions found within the pages of scripture.By calling the bible the word of God when it
is not (only Jesus is the Word of God) they give equal weight to all passages
of scripture thus making the gospel of none effect.Whereas, the Christian walk admonitions or
instructions are an attempt to give ethical consideration and meaning to the gospel.But, they were never meant to be included in
the gospel any more than Exodus 21:7-11 is meant to authorize a man selling his
daughter as a sex slave.The only
universal in the bible is redemption which finds its final expression in the
death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.All of the ethical suggestions are to specific situations and are of
questionable value from a universal vantage point.While it may be possible to extrapolate an
overall guide for Christian behavior from these letters, they have no gospel
purpose.Neglecting this fact becomes
the source of all the divisions and strife that have resulted over the years
within the church.In fact, it is part
of the strong delusion which was prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:11.This is the main problem of inerrancy, a
doctrine founded in sola scriptura from the reformation.

The Order of Operation of Redemption:

The order of operation of redemption is founded in the sovereign
work of God and his grace.God alone
decreed the fall and God alone decreed redemption.Further, the work of redemption is solely the
work of God in Christ.Whenever, human
effort is connected with this work of redemption, whether as a prerequisite or
a future qualifier, it removes the sovereignty from God and therefore renders
it a work of humanity completely.In
other words, if I must participate in my redemption by any other means than
belief, I cannot be redeemed.Thus, any
and all actions on my part are a response to the belief that God was in Christ,
reconciling me unto him and not counting my sins to me.Anything short of this is not grace.Grace as used in the gospel is unmerited
favor whereby Holy Righteous God, accepts fallen sin filled man as righteous,
based upon the merit of his Son Jesus Christ.He imputes or transfers the righteousness of Christ to the
believer.The question becomes this, how
does one appropriate the benefit of this transferred righteousness?The answer is simply believing, trusting and
resting in this decree of God.In order
to do this I must believe that Jesus is really the Son of God and God
incarnate.I must believe that he
fulfilled all the requirements of saving righteousness established by
the Father.I must believe that as he
died as a sacrifice for the fall, likewise, he rose to life eternal from the
dead and that in so doing he purchased once for all time and all people free
redemption and imputed transferred righteousness.This is the essential element of belief.This is not easy.Without the witness of the Spirit of God to
our spirit it is impossible.Thus,
conversion to the gospel is solely the work of the sovereignty of God by the
message and the Holy Spirit.If once I
have grasped this in totality, i.e., really believed it, nothing else can be
required of me or my salvation is not of grace.This is irrefutable.

To tie the Christian walk admonitions to salvation or proof
thereof robs the gospel of its effectiveness.It cripples the gospel and thus, impedes the power of God.This is precisely the reason for the importance
of the doctrine of the Sabbath Rest.The epistle to the Hebrews establishes the doctrine of the Sabbath
Rest.So there remains a Sabbath
rest for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9 NAS95)

Let’s look at the Sabbath Rest.This concept is most important to the order
of operation of redemption.God has
decreed that he has redeemed mankind to the pre-fall state by the blood of
Jesus.This is the Sabbath Rest
for the people of God.The writer of
Hebrews uses the illustration of the Israelites who perished in the wilderness
to demonstrate unbelief.Look at what
David wrote; 1 ¶ Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to
the Rock of our salvation. 2Let us come
before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with
psalms. 3For the LORD is the great God,
And the great King above all gods. 4In
His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His
also. 5The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land. 6Oh
come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. 7 ¶
For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His
hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: 8"Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of
trial in the wilderness, 9When your
fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. 10For forty years I was grieved with that
generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And
they do not know My ways.’ 11So I swore
in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’" (Psalms 95:1-11
NKJV)The ninety-fifth Psalm is
instructive in the concept of the Sabbath Rest.It begins as a song of praise to a sovereign
God.God is the great God and likewise
he is the great King.There is none like
him.There is a personal message in this
Psalm.David says, we are the people
of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.One should be able to rest and trust such an awesome God.This is especially true in view of being his
chosen. It is the warning however that plays an important part in explaining
the concept of the Sabbath Rest.“Today, if you will hear His voice: 8"Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of
trial in the wilderness, 9When your
fathers tested Me;”The rebellion
spoken of here is Israel’s refusal to trust God when he told them to go in an possess the
promised land.Faith and trust in God is
the thing that he desires from all (Heb 11:6.)One must believe what God has decreed.To the children of Israel, who had come across the Red Sea on dry land, trust
meant to believe that he would give them the Promised Land over the Jordan River.This was a symbol of the rest that would be
provided at a later time through the death burial and resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ.So then, to please God,
faith and trust must be placed in what he has decreed for a particular time in
redemptive history.What is that which
God wants mankind to believe since the death burial and resurrection of
Jesus?The answer is that Jesus paid it
all and that faith in this is what pleases him.This is where the rest comes from; realizing that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world to himself not counting their sin against them.

With this background well look at the Sabbath Rest passage in
Hebrews; 1 ¶ Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us
fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2For indeed the gospel was preached to us as
well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being
mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I
swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’" although the works
were finished from the foundation of the world. 4For He has spoken in a certain place of the
seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His
works"; 5and again in this place:
"They shall not enter My rest." 6Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it
was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7again He designates a certain day, saying in
David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said:
"Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts."
8For if Joshua had given them rest,
then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9There remains therefore a rest for the people
of God.10For he who has entered
His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 ¶
Let us therefore be diligentto enter that rest, lest anyone fall
according to the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:1-11 NKJV)Here is the long and the short of what is
being said.Working for salvation and
acceptance before God is worthless and useless.In fact, it is an abomination.God wants the believer to cease from work as
God did from his work on the seventh day.What does it mean for the believer to cease from work.The believer must cease from working to be
acceptable to God.The believer is
acceptable to God only by the blood of Jesus and this is the source of the
rest.If one feels that there is
something additional that must be done to maintain acceptability before God
then, such a one is not resting in the Sabbath Rest.

The Importance of Rest:

Rest
is the catalyst for the fruit of the Spirit.It is only from the place of rest that one can honestly say that they
love God.Without the Sabbath Rest one
can only fear God.One can say that they
love God apart from rest but they are merely self-deceived hypocrites.It is impossible to love one that is
feared.This is why the Apostle John
wrote that perfect love casts out fear be cause fear has an element of torment
and the one who fears is not made perfect in love.

If
one is ever put in the position of doubting the efficacy Christ’s blood on his
or her behalf they can no longer love in the proper way.This is why faith is the only way to please
God.One must believe at all times in
all circumstances that Jesus paid it all.Otherwise, the individual is left at some point with the responsibility
of being righteous before God apart from the blood of Jesus. This can only lead
to condemnation and defeat.The author
of this kind of doctrine is Satan himself.He through his abominable lies drives a wedge between the believer and
God but it is not a real wedge.It is
merely Satan’s deception.The prime
distributor of this horrible lie is the Evangelical, InstitutionalChurch.

The
Sabbath Rest lies in the fact that God judged sin in the flesh on the cross.God poured out his wrath on Jesus.He paid the penalty for sin once for
all.The Sabbath Rest is found in
believing God once for all.The life of
a believer is a process and no one can be judged on a moment in time.God will judge on the basis of resting in the
finished work of Jesus and nothing else.There is however fruit that resting in Jesus will produce.It is the fruit of the Spirit.This will manifest itself in love (charity)
joy, peace, gentleness, meekness, patience and self-control.Likewise, one will also do the works that are
spoken of in Ephesians.For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV)These good works are specific in nature and narrow in scope.Yet, they are demanded throughout the entire
scripture.The Evangelical,
Institutional Christian Church has ignored theses works for the last two
thousand years.The next section of this
manual will be devoted to demonstrating that these works are necessary from
God’s point of view.

The following is a list of these
necessary good works.They are works of
faith and must not be ignored.They are;
feeding the hungry,
clothing the naked, giving shelter to the homeless, and visiting the sick and the prisoners